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Legal Plots

There’s nothing like spending time with a doctor to realize just how many different ways lawyers impact our lives. I remember years ago going in for the pre-op consult on my wisdom teeth. What did they do? Plop me in front of a TV and make me watch a video about everything that could go wrong. Let me tell you, I wanted to run for the hills and never come back. I made my mom watch the video. Me, I turned away and tried to pretend I was listening to anything but that litany of evils that could happen if I was one of the unlucky 1 in 10,000 people.

It certainly hasn’t gotten better since I was a teenager.

I’m always giving clients advice about how to protect themselves and their businesses. In all kinds of situations. Have to fire an employee? Here’s how to protect your business. Landlord getting foreclosed? Here are a few steps to try. Been in a car accident? Talk to this partner? (I just can’t stomach all the medical reports…there is a reason I went to law school and not med school, folks. I like to say it wasn’t my brain, but my stomach!)

But now that I’m looking for a legal plot, a high concept one….as Meg Ryan said in You’ve Got Mail…zip…nada…I’m blank.

Me. The woman who prints all kinds of weird news articles. Have stacks of them just cause I thought they were strange. Maybe I need to dig through them, because with the self-imposed pressure on, I can’t find a big plot to save my life.

Sure I’ve got the characters, the town, the quirks, even the strong subplot — but I don’t think it’s high concept enough to carry the whole book.